Learning outcomes

Class title: The problem of time in History.
Learning the issues regarding the rapport between conceptions of “time” and conceptions of History. To become aware of the most advanced philosophical, historiographic and scientific research regarding the mystery of “time”. To acknowledge the new positions in the philosophy of history.

Program

In the current lively and controversial discussion about the transformations inherent in the statute of historiography and philosophy of history, the theme of “time” has a central position given its inextricable connection with “the making of history”, “the thinking of history”, “the writing of history”. The most advanced threshold in our research is in how to approach that which we call “anachronism”, but historiography schools are still absorbed by questions such as: the necessity or lack of periodization, the priority of the present over the past and vice versa, etc. Some clarification about the theme of “time” is contributed by scientific research (in physics, in neuroscience, etc.) and by eccentric philosophies rooted in a highly scientific approach such as the speculations by Maria Zambrano. This course is interwoven about this world of thought that’s undergoing important transformations.
Texts upon which the examination is based:
- Nicole Loreaux, Éloge de l'anachronisme en histoire (1993)
(will be distributed in a translation by the instructor)
- Jacques Le Goff, Il tempo continuo della storia (The continuous time of history), tr. di D. Scaffei, Laterza Roma-Bari 2014.
- Marc Bloch, Che cosa chiedere alla storia?(What to ask of History?), a cura di G.G. Merlo e F. Mores, Castelvecchi, 2014.
- Maria Zambrano, L'agonia dell'Europa (The agony of Europe), Marsilio, Venezia 2009.

During the course, excerpts from books of physics, cosmology, neurosciences, etc. will be used. The instructor will furnish texts, quotes, references, bibliography.

Examination Methods

Oral test.